Emerge New Woman founder Lady Mae positioned women’s mental and emotional renewal as a driver for national productivity at the 6th Renewed Woman conference held Monday, December 30, 2025.
The event, conducted under the theme Recharge at the Emmanuel Event Enclave in Labone, attracted over 700 attendees and featured media personality Nana Ama McBrown as guest speaker.
Various elements anchored the message of recharge, including a session with clinical psychologist Dr. Abra Dziedorm. Lady Mae framed the annual conference not merely as a motivational event but as a necessary intervention for promoting wellness that translates to peak performance and productivity, indicating how burnout impedes professional and entrepreneurial output.
Renewed Woman is a transformative gathering where women come to reflect, share their stories, and draw strength, Lady Mae stated. It provides a safe, empowering space for mental, emotional, and personal renewal, reminding women that restoration is part of growth. The organization’s founder emphasized the business oriented philosophy behind the non governmental organization’s (NGO) work, connecting the theme of Recharge directly to sustained performance.
Recharge is about recognizing that need and choosing restoration before exhaustion sets in, she explained. Many of us feel lost or that we are failing, but we are simply running on empty batteries, highlighting how burnout impedes professional and entrepreneurial output. The three pillars that underpin Emerge New Woman’s ethos are Healing, Empowerment, and Re-integration.
To date, the NGO has invested in excess of one million cedis across psycho education, seed funding, business skills training, and various support services. The event also served as a platform for partnership appeals and a showcase of the organization’s financial footprint. Lady Mae announced the launch of her second book, Save You First, which underscores the principle of conscious self investment.
According to her, to expand the foundation’s impact, they are actively seeking sponsorship and partnerships from government institutions, corporate bodies, and other NGOs. This call for investment was punctuated by tangible action during the conference, directly linking the day’s themes of renewal to concrete business advancement. A total of 30 seed fund beneficiaries were supported, with five seed fund beneficiaries exhibiting products from their skills.
Twelve beneficiaries received a share of 50,000 cedis, while 18 others received products worth about 100,000 cedis, including appliances, equipment, and supplies for their businesses. Combined, the direct financial and in kind support provided to beneficiaries at the conference totaled approximately 150,000 cedis, reflecting Emerge New Woman’s commitment to translating wellness conversations into economic empowerment.
Special guest speaker Nana Ama McBrown reinforced the necessity of recharging for peak performance. Sharing her own life’s journey, she charged the audience with a mandate not to give up and keep pushing. You can’t sit at the same place and expect things to move in your favor in 2026. As you enter into 2026, always be on the move and God’s favor will locate you, she said.
The conference was attended by dignitaries including Founder of the Solid Rock Chapel International, Rev. Dr. Christie Doe Tetteh, Apostle Felicia Acheampong of Aroma of Christ, Rosemund Obeng representing the Deputy Chief of Staff from the Office of the President, veteran actress Akofa Edjeani Asiedu, guest artist Obaapa Christy, Ark Band, and media personalities Kwesi Ernest and AJ Pounds who served as master of ceremonies for the event.
Lady Mae, whose real name is Marian Assibi, founded Emerge New Woman as a platform addressing the mental health, economic empowerment, and social reintegration needs of Ghanaian women. The organization operates on the principle that women’s wellness directly correlates with national productivity, positioning psychological and emotional health as economic imperatives rather than luxury concerns.
The NGO’s three pillar approach of Healing, Empowerment, and Re-integration reflects a comprehensive strategy addressing both immediate crisis intervention and long term capability building. Healing focuses on trauma recovery and mental health support, Empowerment provides business skills and seed capital, while Re-integration helps beneficiaries establish sustainable livelihoods and community connections.
The conference format combines inspirational messaging with practical support mechanisms. Unlike purely motivational events that end with participants feeling inspired but lacking concrete resources for change, the Renewed Woman conference pairs wellness messages with tangible economic interventions through seed funding, equipment provision, and business skills training.
Dr. Abra Dziedorm’s clinical psychology session provided evidence based perspectives on burnout, stress management, and the physiological impacts of chronic exhaustion. Her participation reflects Emerge New Woman’s commitment to grounding wellness conversations in scientific understanding rather than relying solely on motivational rhetoric.
The choice of Nana Ama McBrown as guest speaker carried strategic significance. The actress, television presenter, and entrepreneur brings both celebrity appeal and authentic struggle narratives that resonate with audiences. Her journey from modest beginnings to becoming one of Ghana’s most recognized media personalities provides a compelling case study in resilience and sustained performance management.
McBrown’s emphasis on continuous movement and positioning for opportunity aligns with Lady Mae’s framework connecting self care to productivity. The message challenges cultural narratives suggesting that rest represents laziness, instead framing strategic restoration as essential infrastructure for sustained high performance.
The presence of government representation through Rosemund Obeng from the Deputy Chief of Staff’s office signals potential institutional interest in women’s empowerment programming. Such connections could facilitate future partnerships enabling Emerge New Woman to scale its impact through access to government resources, policy influence, or collaborative programme delivery.
Religious leaders including Rev. Dr. Christie Doe Tetteh and Apostle Felicia Acheampong attending the conference reflects the significant role faith communities play in Ghana’s social support ecosystem. Many women access initial help through churches before connecting with formal NGO or government services, making religious leaders important referral partners for organizations like Emerge New Woman.
The exhibition component featuring five beneficiaries showcasing products from their skills provided tangible evidence of program effectiveness. Seeing fellow participants successfully launching enterprises through seed funding validates the organization’s model while inspiring current beneficiaries about possibilities for their own ventures.
The distinction between the 12 beneficiaries receiving cash shares versus 18 receiving in kind support likely reflects different business needs. Start up enterprises may require cash for initial inventory or licensing, while established ventures benefit more from equipment, appliances, or supplies that reduce overhead costs and improve operational capacity.
Lady Mae’s second book launch at the conference, Save You First, extends her message beyond the annual gathering into literature accessible year round. The title encapsulates the core philosophy that women must prioritize their own wellbeing before effectively supporting others, challenging cultural expectations that women should perpetually sacrifice personal needs for family, community, or national demands.
The book launch also represents revenue diversification for Emerge New Woman. Beyond donations and grants, book sales can provide sustainable income streams supporting organizational operations. Author platforms also amplify founder visibility, potentially attracting larger donors, corporate sponsors, or government partnerships.
The call for sponsorship and partnerships during the conference reflects pragmatic recognition that expanding impact requires resources beyond founder contributions and small donor bases. Lady Mae’s explicit appeal to government institutions, corporate bodies, and other NGOs demonstrates sophisticated understanding of funding ecosystem navigation.
Corporate sponsorships could provide substantial capital while offering companies visible association with women’s empowerment initiatives beneficial for corporate social responsibility positioning. Government partnerships could enable service delivery at scale through existing institutional infrastructure and budgets. Collaborations with other NGOs could facilitate resource sharing, technical expertise exchange, and coordinated service delivery avoiding duplication.
The timing of the conference in late December positions it as both year end reflection and new year preparation. Participants can process lessons from 2025 while setting intentions and accessing resources for 2026 ventures. This liminal timing capitalizes on natural human tendencies toward retrospection and forward planning during year transitions.
However, late December scheduling also presents challenges. Holiday commitments, travel, and year end work pressures could reduce attendance despite the 700 participant turnout suggesting strong interest. The organization may need to evaluate whether alternative timing would enable even greater participation while maintaining the symbolic power of new year transitions.
The 700 attendee figure represents significant growth for an NGO founded relatively recently. Sustaining and expanding this audience requires consistent value delivery, strategic marketing, and continuous innovation in programming. As the Renewed Woman conference enters its seventh year in 2026, maintaining participant enthusiasm while attracting new audiences will test organizational creativity and resource management.
Looking forward, Emerge New Woman faces questions about sustainability and scale. The organization has invested over one million cedis to date, but expanding to reach more women across Ghana’s diverse geography requires multiples of current resources. Building institutional partnerships, diversifying revenue streams, and demonstrating measurable impact through rigorous monitoring and evaluation become increasingly important as the organization matures.
The emphasis on women’s mental health and economic empowerment reflects growing recognition in Ghana and across Africa that development strategies ignoring women’s psychological wellbeing inevitably underperform. Women comprise significant portions of agricultural labor forces, dominate informal sector trade, and bear primary responsibility for child rearing. Their exhaustion, trauma, or mental health challenges ripple through families, communities, and national economies.
By positioning wellness as productivity infrastructure rather than individual luxury, Lady Mae and Emerge New Woman contribute to shifting narratives about women’s health from private concern to public investment priority. Whether this framing successfully attracts the government and corporate partnerships sought remains to be seen, but the organization’s growth trajectory and conference scale suggest resonance with target audiences.